541: Relative Advantage of Using the Basic Suite for Learning

The basic software suite consists of three of the most widely used software support tools.  These tools are word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation programs.  These programs teach students 21st-century skills while making daily work more efficient and effective.

Word processing software allows people to type documents on a computer or other device.  It allows the user to save the document for another time, publish it as a web page, PDF files to save the formatting, or RTF files to remove the formatting.  

Word processing software’s biggest relative advantage is that is saves time writing text and makes changing the text easier and more flexible.  This allows students to make changes to their writing easily.  Students do not like to make changes when they hand-write a piece of writing.  Using word processing software lets students edit and revise with ease.  They are more willing to add to and fix up writing.  It also allows students to save and share documents, enhance the document appearance, and collaborate on documents.  Google Docs is a great app that allows students to work on a document simultaneously.  It also saves the revision history incase something is deleted or the teacher needs to check it.

Not only is there a relative advantage for students, word processing software has made teachers’ (and many other workplace environments) life much easier as well.  Teachers can create documents easily and efficiently, save and share documents with colleagues and parents, create and edit lesson plans, and enhance communication.  Teachers can also collaborate with students using word processing software.  Google Docs is also great for this.  Teachers can suggest or edit on the same document as students, leave typed comments, and even leave voice comments.

Spreadsheet software are designed to organize and manipulate numerical.  Spreadsheets store information in columns and rows, and formulas can be applied to the cells.  This software is another time-saver that can be used in the classroom and workplace.

Spreadsheets can save time by storing information and completing calculations and recalculations quickly and accurately.  This can make math or another subject area working with spreadsheets more motivating.  Information can be organized to design charts, schedules, attendance lists, dictionaries, and much more.  Students can store save the information and share it with other students or the teacher.  Students can use spreadsheets to help answer “what if” questions.  The automatic recalculation of numbers helps students see what happens when certain numbers are changes.  This helps them visualize the results.    

Teachers also reap the benefits of spreadsheets.  Teachers can also use spreadsheets to find calculations.  One common way teachers do this is to show student growth.  They can input data from the beginning, middle, and end of the year and use a formula to find the difference and show the amount of growth.  Spreadsheets can serve as anecdotal checklists, gradebooks, budgets, and much more.  Teachers can put a word wall into a spreadsheet and share it with students.

Presentation software is used to display information using a slideshow.  The information in the slideshow can include text, pictures, audio, and videos.  The most popular relative advantage of presentation software is supporting a speaker while presenting information to a listener.  Presentation software can also help people organizer their thinking about a topic, enhance the impact of the spoken information, and allow collaboration on presentations.  Students and teachers can contribute to the products in a variety of ways by choosing text, audio, images, or video.

Presentation software can be used in a number of ways.  Students or teachers could present a summary of information.  This could include book reports, informational reports, or persuasive reports.  They can also include hot spots in the slideshow that take the presentation to a link or site to receive more information. Slideshows could be used to give a brief tutorial.  Teachers could show students how to complete a math problem, a science experiment, or explanation of a concept.  Slideshows can be used for interactive storybooks or games, such as jeopardy.  These both motivate and engage students.

The basic software suite may be overlooked and thought of as simple, but there are so many uses that can create an amazing relative advantage for both students and teachers.  It is hard to think of how much more work there would be without word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software.

Roblyer, M.D. (2016). Technology tools for 21st century teacher . In J, Johnston, (Ed.) Integrating educational technology into teaching (pp. 31-71). Boston: Pearson.

541: Relative Advantage of Instructional Software in the Classroom

When it comes to teaching, every student and every classroom are different.  There should be a variety of teaching strategies and learning styles that are used to help foster learning to all students.  There are many different types of software that can help a teacher meet the different needs of students.  They may also be used for different types of lessons or to support lessons.

Drill and practice software are products/activities that allow students to practice lower-level skills that need to be mastered before higher-order skills can be learned.  These activities help information become automatic.  The advantages of using drill and practice are that students can learn basic skills quickly and effectively, they receive immediate feedback, they are more motivated to participate, and it saves the teacher time instead of having to work with each student one-on-one.  An example of a drill and practice game is the Solar System Shuffle.  In this game, students have to match planet descriptions to the correct planet.  When they are finished, they can check the answers and see how close they were to becoming a “Solar System Shuffle Super StarChild”.

Another software with a relative advantage is one that provides an entire instructional sequence on a learning concept. This is called a tutorial.  Tutorials provide enough instruction that the student should be able to complete the lesson without any other supplemental help.  Tutorial software is an advantage to the classroom by being interactive which motivates and engages students, being self-paced so the students can work at the rate that is comfortable for them, providing immediate feedback to students, providing instruction that can stand on its own, and saving the teacher time. An example of a tutorial about the solar system is this website activity: Our Solar System.  Students can read about the solar system and answer the questions at the end of each section.  They are able to work at their own pace and get immediate feedback.

Simulations are model of how something works.  It can be a real or imagined system that will provide instruction on how the system works.  They can teach about something or teach how to do something. Simulations give the students more freedom to choose tasks and in which order they wish to complete them.  There are numerous advantages to using simulations.  Simulations can motivate and engage students, slow down processes that happen too fast, speed up processes that take too long, allow students to experiment when the actual experiment would not be safe, be cost effective when the actual experiment would be expensive, provide the opportunity to try an experiment over and change variables, and make impossible situations come to life.  An example of a simulation is Weather and the Sky.  This simulation shows what happens to the stars when night turns into day. It speeds up the process to allow students to see night turning to day in a matter of seconds.

Technology-based games are software products that add fun and excitement to learning activities by adding game-like rules, competition or challenges, and entertaining formats.  Students are often more motivated to use instructional games when they can score points and win.  There are many benefits to using technology-based games in the classroom.  Other than the games being exciting and motivating, they get students to spend more time on the curriculum and get them to try harder.  Playing games can also develop abilities such as empathy, attention, and tenacity.  An example of a technology-based game is: The Solar System. Here students can complete NASA missions while exploring the solar system.  If students are unsuccessful with the mission, they are able to try again.

Software that is designed to help teach problem-solving skills is problem-solving software.  This software can serve as practice in solving content-area problems or general problem-solving skills.  Problem-solving includes recognizing a goal, the sequence or process, and the activity to solve it.  Relative advantages of problem-solving software include visualization of abstract concepts with concrete representations, increases in motivation and interest while presenting a challenge, and it can make knowledge and skills more meaningful to the students.  They are learning both the knowledge and the application of it.  An example of a problem-solving activity is Exploring Our Solar System.  This is a webquest where students have to use websites to explore different planets and answer questions about each planet.  Then they have to find out how much they would weigh and how old they would be on each planet.

There are so many different activities that have a relative advantage to teaching astronomy in the classroom.  Astronomy is a tough concept to teach without the use of technology.  Each of the examples above have a time and place for this science unit and add benefits for the students and teacher.  Each activity must be implemented in a way that it can add to student engagement and motivation.  It all depends on how you use the activities to reap the benefits of them. (Roblyer, 2016)

References

Anderson, L. (n.d.). In Exploring our solar system. Retrieved from http://users.zoominternet.net/~eanderson/webquest/index.html

Enchanted Learning. (2015). In Our solar system. Retrieved from http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/tutor/solarsystem/1/

Houghton Mifflin Company. (n.d.). In Weather and the sky. Retrieved from http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmsc/activities/simulations/gr1/unitd.html

NASA. (n.d.). In The solar system. Retrieved from http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/solar-system-explorer/en/#/review/solar-system-explorer/game.swf

Roblyer, M.D. (2016). Integrating educational technology into teaching. (7 ed). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

The StarChild Team. (n.d.). In Solar System Shuffle. Retrieved from http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/activity/solar_ system_shuffle.html

541: Vision-Mission Statement

My vision of educational technology is to create a learning environment where higher-level learning occurs.  Students are living in a fast-paced society, and they need an environment that will keep up with them and connect them to the digital world. This generation of students has grown up with technology all around them.  Nancye Blair (2012) observes signs that there is a dramatic shift sweeping through schools; “Third graders texting on their cell phones. Kindergarteners who can navigate an iPod Touch better than we can. Middle schoolers who already have an Internet following on their blog or YouTube channel.” They are multitaskers and need a learning environment that it going to allow them quick access to information and exploration so they can construct their own knowledge. Through the use of technology to increase critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration (Partnership for 21st Century Learners) students will be actively engaged in their own learning.

Linda Starr (2011) states, “...technology should be integrated, not as a separate subject or as a once-in-a-while project, but as a tool to promote and extend student learning on a daily basis.” Technology allows students to collaborate with classmates and work cooperatively.  They gain leadership and responsibility skills that benefit them now and also later in life.  They can also share their work with people around the world instead of just in the classroom.  This creates an authentic audience which motivates and provides a sense of self-worth for students.  Students will try harder when they know their work is going to be published and outsiders will get to view it. Students will be given the opportunity to partake in activities with peers around the world that would not be possible without the use of technology.

Educational technology can solve many issues in the classroom.  The use of technology can motivate and engage students.  The reluctant learners are many times drawn into the use of technology.  Students are not afraid to fail or make mistakes.  They try harder to find a solution instead of being quick to give up.  Students will be more willing to make corrections and revisions to a writing piece or explaining the process of completing an algorithm.  

Technology can help reach students with different learning styles.  Students will be allowed to create, instead of taking a paper and pencil test.  They will be able to express their differences and creativity.  Learning can take place at different paces that are appropriate to the individual students.  The one-size-fits-all approach will cease to exist.  Students with disabilities will not be held back and will be successful with the use of technology (Roblyer, 2013, p.14).

My classroom will be based on the constructivist learning approach. The teacher will act as a facilitator to allow students to discover, create, and explore.  Students will build upon their background knowledge by exploring and discovering new information.  Demonstration of learning will take place in different ways depending on student learning style. “The student then becomes the focal point of the classroom, acting as explorer (e.g., mathematician, scientist, sociologist) and designer (e.g., author, artist, composer)” (Blair, 2012). Similar to Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, modeling will take place to motivate students and increase self-efficacy.  Videos and podcasts will be utilized to allow students to observe the behaviors of students who are successful (Roblyer, 2013, p. 43).  Students will be provided with hands on, interactive visuals to gain an understanding of abstract concepts.  Collaboration and cooperative will be promoted as students explore concepts that are interesting to them.   By providing a learning environment that fosters digital literacy and citizenship, students will be equipped with the skills they need to succeed in this ever changing society.  

References

Blair, N. (2012, February). Technology integration for the new 21st century learner. National Association of Elementary School Principals, 8-13. Retrieved from http://www.naesp.org/sites/default/files/Blair_JF12.pdf

Partnership for 21st Century Learners. The 4cs research series. Retrieved September 2, 2015, from http://www.p21.org/our-work/4cs-research-series

Roblyer, M.D. (2013). Educational technology in context. In J, Johnston, (Ed.) Integrating educational technology into teaching (pp. 1-30). Boston: Pearson.

Roblyer, M.D. (2013). Theory into practice: Foundations for effective technology integration. In J, Johnston, (Ed.) Integrating educational technology into teaching (pp. 31-71). Boston: Pearson.

Starr, L. (2011, June). Integrating technology in the classroom: It takes more than just having computers. Education World. Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech146.shtml